Collierville cracks whip on sex-bondage house -- Town calls fetish- for-a-fee in upscale home 'a nuisance'

A cream-colored brick house nestled in an upscale Colliervilleneighborhood like a scene in a Norman Rockwell painting isadvertised on the Internet as an adult bed and breakfast completewith a bondage room, a list of sexual fantasy services and a four-day/three-night package for a consensual slave lifestyle.

A website called the residence at 273 Colbert in Schilling Farms"Zanthia House," a place for bondage, dominance and sadomasochism.

The town of Collierville called it a nuisance.

Among the services listed are body rubs, fetish/role play, tantraand naked maid.

Occupant James Williams has appeared twice before Judge CraigHall, who ordered Williams to "not allow acts or conditions whichcreate a nuisance on the property, specifically but not limited tothe advertisement of an adult BDSM bed and breakfast or any otherbusiness in this residential area."

Williams pleaded guilty and was fined the maximum $50 forcreating a nuisance, court records show.

The website was taken down after he was cited, but codesofficials found it up again Dec. 17. The 59-year-old Williams wascited last week for advertising Zanthia House on the Internet again.The website is down once again.

Williams is set to appear in City Court on Thursday for violatingthe order of compliance. He could be held in contempt and ordered topay $50 for each day he violated the order, said prosecutor MarkMcDaniel.

Williams didn't answer the door to the house Thursday night, butdrove up in front of the house in a black pickup with a Nevadalicense plate.

He was wearing all black and a black cowboy hat. A websitepicture shown at the previous hearing shows a similar-looking manwearing a black outfit with a black hat and holding a bullwhip.Three women in leather are lying down in front of him.

Williams didn't want to talk about Zanthia House except to say itwas a fantasy. He drove away. Neighbors declined to comment.

On Friday, a man answered the toll-free phone number listed forZanthia House. He said there has never been a Zanthia House.

"It's all just a research project for a screenplay," he said. Theproject was put on hold because of complications, he added.

"Williams didn't mention the screenplay project at the hearing,"said McDaniel.

Photos in the Court Clerk's office show an Internet snapshot ofthe front of the home with "Zanthia House - adult bed and breakfast"printed in the upper corner. Other pictures show a bondage room withblack furniture and leather gizmos suspended from the ceiling.

Another website called escortpost.com listed a man named "MasterJaye" who said he is located in Memphis.

Rates to visit Zanthia House on that website were $200 for a half-hour, $250 for an hour, $500 for overnight and $75 for a 15-minutequickie. That posting was also removed after the initial citationwas issued.

The owner of the house listed in records at the Shelby CountyAssessor's office is Zanthia Group Inc. in care of Kathleen K.Phililaau.

Before the house was built in 2002, the town approved anamendment to allow the 3,513-square-foot home to be built on adouble lot. Its appraised value is $754,400.

It's the corner house on Colbert West. It has two front doors,which make it appear like two houses separated by a brick wall.

The house is a block or two away from a church and two-tenths ofa mile from Schilling Farms Middle School.

- Cindy Wolff: 529-2378